He got away from markers with clever movement, often covering more distance than anybody else on the pitch not with intensity, but with intelligence. Everybody knew Pirlo’s teams played through him. The game plan against them was simple then. Stop Pirlo and you nullified Milan, thwarted Juventus, and confounded Italy.
Few succeeded, though, because just when you thought you had Pirlo you lost him again. As if by magic he would wriggle free of his chains like Harry Houdini and prepare for his next trick; a free kick, like one of the 28 he scored in Serie A, a record he shares with Sinisa Mihajlovic, a no-look pass for Fabio Grosso, a ball hit first time over the top for Pippo Inzaghi or Alvaro Morata, a Panenka dinked out of Fabien Barthez or Joe Hart’s reach.
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